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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pop — to visit
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chest — a box
  8. fall — to drop
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. plane — a tool
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. scale — in music
  13. pop — music
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. chest — of your body
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fall — the season
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pop — soda
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com